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Message: <blockquote data-quote="zakael19" data-source="post: 9799914" data-attributes="member: 7044099">I think you're maybe not familiar with the newer (by like a general "length of TTRPGs existing" newer) modules that I think many of us are point at when we say "Easy to Run." I'm going to use the excellent Winter's Daughter by Gavin Norman as an example (released 5 or 6 years ago?). It opens with a set of Referee's Background that tells you the story of the situation at hand (an ancient fairy prince, the war between him and mortals, forbidden love between his daughter & a mortal knight, etc). It gives some stuff lingering about how the princess and the knight's shade are stuck, various context for things within the tomb and beyond, etc.You get a set of hooks. A bunch of Common Folklore to present the players as their background or as they desire to investigate the tales behind the tomb before making an expedition. So on.But once you're at the tomb (or at least the forest leading up to it), you have simple clear keyed maps with super usable and concise descriptions using the BOLD (amplification) house style:"Stairs into the MoundDescend 20’ (into the earth). Dusty(caked with centuries of undisturbed dust). Deathly silence (disturbed byPCs’ footsteps). Dank smell (moist and mouldy).▶ If examined: Scratches are discovered. Looks like something heavy was dragged up the stairs (a long time ago)."You get random encounters that are more then "Skeletons: 6" and of course you have classic reaction rolls to make if the encounter doesnt have a custom one (Reaction: Welcome strangers to join the dance. Attack vehemently if any of the coffers are disturbed.)You get Referee's Notes with little extra bits right in the keyed room where they apply.Everything is organized so you can look and speak at the table without needing to "prep." NPCs have Wants and Knows. They may have some boxes of Pleas or similar. The keyed maps have even more concise descriptions of the rooms along with their names so you can run just off it and look to notes as needed (eg: 11. Statues with weapons: Mould-patched walls. Partially concealed mural.)When I read this module for the first time about 3 years ago, it broke my mind. I was in the middle of running Curse of Strahd and a stitched together Eberron campaign, off of pages of long form text I had to extract useful stuff out of, and often never gave me the important to play items at all. I discovered you didn't need all that, you can fold narrative things at the start of a chapter or module and then focus down on moment to moment play in a well keyed and written map. And doing this actually gave me more space to respond to player ideation in a rigorous and smooth way.</blockquote>

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